Who plays Pawnee mayor Walter Gunderson in the final season?

Bill Murray plays Pawnee mayor Walter Gunderson in the final season of Parks and Recreation. Murray appears in the season-seven episode “Two Funerals,” which reveals that Gunderson has died.

Gunderson had been a running off-screen presence since the early seasons. Characters repeatedly mentioned the mayor, his dog Rufus, and his long tenure, but viewers did not see him directly until the final season. Murray’s casting turned a long-running background joke into a highly anticipated guest appearance.

The appearance is deliberately unusual: Gunderson is shown lying in an open casket and also appears through a prerecorded funeral message. This is why some viewers remember Murray as playing a character who is technically seen mostly after death. The role is not a performance by Martin Short, Chevy Chase, or Steve Martin.